Rodney: We’re back with Vincent Blair of the Vincent K. Blair agency. Getting right back on track Vince, as everyone knows from the first segment, a few months ago we had a very good conversation and leaning into this segment is pretty simple: why Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield? More

Rodney: Once again I welcome Vincent Blair of the Vincent K. Blair agency. Glad to see you this morning Vincent, it’s always a pleasure coming up to visit with you. A couple months ago I came up and visited with you and talked about some topics we were going to be covering under the radio show today. One of them being the perception of health care from your standpoint as an insurance broker, one of the most respected brokers in the region, and myself being an old hospital CEO practice. We both agree that a lot of the problems out there with health care and the health care reform, things like that, is the lack of knowledge, meaning the cost of health care, who to trust to get your information from, and then obviously the education.  More

Throughout ancient times to present day we have shared our lives with companion animals, however the human-animal bond can be a healing force mentally and physically. On a personal level, I experience the “good medicine” that my furry friends bring to me mentally and physically daily. Whether it is walking the trails with my lab-retriever mix Golden, or grooming and riding my paint horse Chero, it is not hard to recognize all the physical benefits I receive. As far as the mental aspect goes, there is nothing greater than coming home to my dog’s smiling face and the horses running with the mini ponies whinnying! How could I be sad or stressed with that kind of welcome? Here I had thought I was taking care of them, but could it be the other way around?  More

This is the full transcript of an interview with Amy Dugal about her son, Isaiah who has Autism and Aspergers. More

“Titles and Acronyms”! We trust individuals and organizations that have “Titles and Acronyms” just because that is what we were taught throughout the years and additionally taught not to question. Do we even know what they mean? Most of us do not know what they mean and as I said at the beginning of this issue, this is something that all of you requested in large numbers. Obviously, the “You Have More Power Than You Think” is empowering many of you. More

As a Health Care Executive in the Hospital and Nursing Home arena, one of the most troubling things that I had to deal with was the “unpreparedness” of loss of life, terminal illness, fatal accident, estate planning, advance directives and aging itself. A vast majority of these dealings were a result of “unwillingness” to discuss these topics sometimes by the individual themselves and or other family members. We all think we will have time or that the time is not right to have these discussions. Sometimes there are family members who are unwilling and or maybe the correct terminology I like to use is “selfish”.  More

Chances are you’ve walked into a room and forgotten why you went there. And misplaced your keys or eyeglasses at least a few times. Many people worry about these memory lapses. They fear they’re heading toward a serious condition like Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible brain illness. More

All of us have habits we have developed because of our own comfort, convenience, demand and most importantly our individuality. Whether the habits are good or bad, they are ours  More

At one of the senior living communities where I serve, there’s a woman named Dorothy. Dorothy ‘s father was a preacher. Her grandfather was a preacher. She had brothers and uncles and cousins who were preachers. She ended up marrying a preacher (who, himself, was the son of a preacher), and she had a son of her own who grew up to be – that’s right! – a preacher. More

How do drugs work in the brain?

Drugs are chemicals. They work in the brain by tapping into the brain’s communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter. This similarity in structure “fools” receptors and allows the drugs to lock onto and activate the nerve cells. Although these drugs mimic brain chemicals, they don’t activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and they lead to abnormal messages being transmitted through the network. More